It’s that time again. The Perseid Meteor will be passing over Virginia Wednesday night, showering the planet with falling stars, and the Shenandoah National Park plans a celebration.
Experts will gather with telescopes at the Dickey Ridge Visitors Center near Front Royal, at Big Meadow and Lofts Mountain to give talks and offer tips on taking pictures of the night sky. Park Ranger Kristin Hendershot says it should be a really good show.
“Every three years or so everything lines up perfectly, to where we have a new moon – which means no moonlight in the sky, with a good meteor shower, so it means you’ll be able to see more meteors.” Park parties start at 9 p.m., and guests can stay and watch for as long as they like.
“The shower is most visible at around 4 a.m. on the morning of the 13th, but we are so close to the peak on the night of the 12th that we should still be able to see a lot of meteors all night long, and you’ll want to look towards the northeast.”
NASA figures we could be seeing a meteor a minute at the height of the show. There’s a fee to visit the park but no extra charge for this program.